Moving stair.



A. SWANSON.

MOVING STAIR.

y APPLIoATIoN FILED 11111114, 1910.

Patented ApI.4, 1911.

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,a s u a. u S ,u e .1 H n 1 t .1. l Wff, 1nd 4 Attorneys.

rHlr "anni: virtus Co.. WASNINUTDN. n. c.

ALFRED SWANSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MOVING STAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

Application led June 4, 1910. Serial No. 565,003.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED SwANsoN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State yof Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Moving Stairs; and I doherebv declare that the following description of my said invention,taken in connection with the accompanying sheets of drawings, forms aIfull, clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has general reference to movable stairs; and it consists,essentially, in the novel and peculiarl combination of parts and detailsof construction, as hereinafter first fully set forth and described, andthen pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings already referred to, which serve to illustrate thisinvention more fully, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the principalparts of this invention, said figure being drawn on line u, u, of Fig.2. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line ce, w, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asectional plan on line fv, o, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevationof one of the platforms detached, the figure being drawn on line y, y,of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan above the line m, of Fig. 4. Fig.6 is an elevation, partly in section, on line z, s, of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 isa sectional elevation on line t, t, of Fig. 6.

Like parts are designated by corresponding characters and symbols ofreference in all the figures.

The object of this invention is the production of an efficient andserviceable moving stairs which shall occupy but little space in abuilding in which it is installed. This stairs comprises two platforms,A, B, each of which is formed of a tread 12, and a riser 13 and 13,respectively. These two platforms are independent of each other and theymove vertically in a suitable well between guides 15, 15, 15b, and 15,there being under each platform, and securely fastened thereto, slidesor shoes C, which will be hereinafter more fully set forth anddescribed, said shoes being adapted to partly embrace said guides tomaintain said platforms in proper position.

The platforms A B are suspended between the guides by means of ropes orcables 17, 17, Fig. L1, which ropes engage and pass oversuitably-arranged overhead pulleys 18, and they carry at their endscountcrweights 19, which are but slightly heavier than the platforms AB, as will hereinafter appear.

The slides or shoes C consist each of two sheet metal plates 1G, 16,having their upper ends bent at right angles to their planes to affordflanges 14, by which and bolts 20, said plates are bolted underneath thetreads 12 of said platforms. These plates 16, 16, are spaced apart sothat their inner sides embrace the guides 15, and between these plates1G and 16, and 1Gb and 16 there are pivoted arms D, D, by means ofpivots 21, said arms D D being, in turn, connected to a lever E,fulcrumed upon a pivot 22, the lower member of said lever E beingconnected to the arm D by a vlink or links 23, and the upper member ofsaid lever E being connected to the arm D by a rod 24, as clearlyillustrated in Figs. 1 and The upper end of this lever E protrudes fromthe upper surface of the tread 12 a short distance, as indicated at 25in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the lever E, and by it its arms DD may bemanipulated as hereinafter described.

The guides 15, 15, 15", and 15u, are, preferably, rectangular tubeslocated in the opposite side-walls Q6, 27, Figs. 3 and 5. The front wallof these tubes is longitudinally slotted at QS, so that the lowerportion of the arms D D may enter these tubular guides, and in the backwall of these tubes there are slotted apertures 2S), adapted to receivethe ends of said arms D D and thereby suppoiit the platforms A B at anyelevation in said well. At a proper distance from the walls 26, 27,there are further walls 30, 31, affording spaces 32, wherein, and behindthe tubes 15, 15, 15b, and 15, there are located, preferably metallic,casings 33, in which tlie counterweights 19 move, there being 011 theupper surfaces of the treads 12 irons 34, entering the tubes to engagethe cables 17 by which the platforms are suspended or lifted,

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by eyes 35, so that these cables are out of ready reach.

ln their normal position, which is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4,the arms D D are in engagement with the respective slotted apertures 29in the back walls of the tubes with their lower ends, and to retainthese arms in this normal position, or to return them thereto whenrequired, there are located between the plates 16 16a, and the plates16b and 16C, spiral springs F, bearing at one end against abutments 36located between said plates, and at their other ends against the lowerends of said arms D D.

The platforms A B are located in the well v which is formed by the walls26, 27 already mentioned, and further walls 37, 38, there being in thewall 3S a door 39, through which access is had to the platforms when itis desired to ascend in the well. These platforms A B are normallylocked at the lower landing, or at any upper landing, in the followingmanner: Under the tread 12 of the platform A there is located a shaft40, journaled in suitable brackets 41. Upon one end of this shaft 40 ismounted a bell-crank, one member, 42 of which is hook-shaped to engage apin 43 secured in the wall 26, the other member 44, (Figs. 6 and 7) ofsaid bell-crank being engaged by a rope or cable 45 passing downwardlyinto the pit of the well over a pulley 57, and then upwardly over anoverhead pulley 46, located between the walls 26 and 30, to acounterweight 47, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

At the end of the shaft 40 opposite that where the bell-crank islocated, there is mounted a hook-shaped arm 42a, corresponding to themember 42 of said bell-crank and engaging a pin 43a, the same as themember 42 engages the pin 43. Upon this shaft there is, furthermore,mounted an arm 48, to which one end of a spring 49 is secured, the otherend of said spring being secured to the plate 16 in an eflicient manner.Although there may be but one of these locking devices 42, preferably onvthe platform A, I may provide both platforms A and B with these lockingmeans so that either platform, when reaching a landing, may be locked inposition.

Between the `members 16 and 16, and above the rod 24 which connects thelever E with the arm D, there is pivoted a bellcrank 54, one member ofwhich engages the rod 24, while to the other member is hitched a rope52, which rope leads downwardly into the pit of the well and may thenlead upwardly to the several floors and provided with a counterweight,not shown, the same as the rope'45, said rope 52 being convenientlylocated to be within easy reach of anV ascending or descending person.

The operation of this rising stairs is as follows: Assume the twoplatforms A B to be down at the lowest landing as shown in Figs. 1 and2, and that a person desires to ascend, also that the lowermostplatform, A, is locked in position by the members 42, 42a, and that theplatform Bis supported by the arms D D engaging the slotted apertures 29in the tubular guides 15a 15b. InV

the risers 13, 13 of these platforms there are slots 50, 50, throughwhich bolts 51, are

passed to limit the vertical movement of the platforms A B with respectto each other, to the length of said slots 50 50a. rlhe person stepsfirst upon the platform A and then takes a step upward to stand upon theplatform B. He now pulls the rope 45 upward to disengage the members 4242L from the pins 43 43a, when the platform A will rise in virtue of thecounter weights 19, and pass the platform B to aheight limited by theslots 50 50a in the risers thereof. In this position the arms D D on theplatform A will engage the slotted apertures 29 in the respectivetubular guides to uphold the platform A when the person on the platformBv takes one step upward and stands upon said platform A. lPlatform Bbeing relieved of the weight of the said person, will rise and passplatform A and stop after having reached its limit of movementdetermined by the length of the slots 50 50a. The person now takesanother step upward to stand upon platform A again, and so continues tostep from one platform upon the other until the proper landing isreached. sirable that there be a set of locking pins at each landing,and it is also evident that at each landing proper guards, not shown, beprovided to prevent accidents when the platforms are at a differentlanding. When the person desires to descend, he steps from the uppermostplatform B to the lower one A and pulls the rope 45 to disengage theuppermost platform from the locking means and then with one foot movesthe projecting end 25 of the lever E sidewise to disengage the arms D Don the platform B and then depresses platform B, which will descend pastthe platform A the proper 'distance and be locked in lower position byits arms D D. The person now steps down upon the platform B and releasesplatform A as described with reference to platform B and pushes platformA down past platform B and then steps down upon the latter platform.These movements are continued until said person lands at the desiredfloor. Should the platforms A B be at an upper landing and a It is de-vperson below desireto ascend or descend,

through the slots 50, 50a, in the risers 13, 13V

of the platforms A, B, said ropes 52 leading downward into the pit ofthe well and may then be led upwardly to the several floors and providedwith counterweights the same as the ropes 45, as already statedI Inorder that the hooked members 42 42 may engage their respective pins indescending, their lower ends are beveled at 55, as shown in Fig. 7, sothat said hook-shaped arms are deflected when they reach said pins topass the same, when the spring 49 will retract said arms 42 42a toengage said pins.

- In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, I have shown only the principal elements of thisdevice for the reason that the details thereof would be so small as tobe obscure. I have, therefore, drawn Figs. l, 5, 6, and 7, at a largerlscale so as to clearly illustrate these various details of construction.

Having thus fully described this invention, I desire it understood thatthe device is susceptible of considerable modification withoutmaterially departing from the principle and spirit of this invention andits scope, and for this reason I do not limit myself to the precise formand arrangement of the several parts of the device in carrying out thisinvention in practice.

I claim as new and desire to secure to myself by Letters Patent of theUnited States l. In rising stairs, a pair of separate platforms, meansadapted to raise said platforms, said means being sufficient only toovercome the weight of said platforms, means adapted to lock saidplatforms at various predetermined distances, said platforms beinglocated side by side and connected to each other in such manner that oneplatform can pass the other the distance of one step only, movable meansadapted to support said platforms at predetermined intervals, and meansfor releasing said platforms, whereby a person desiring to ascend saidrising stairs, steps alternately from one platform upon the other, theplatform not occupied by said person being adapted to ascend by themeans adapted to raise said platform, the distance past the occupiedplatform of one regular step of a stairs, the platform occupied by saidperson being prevented from rising by the weight of said person upon thesame, said occupied platform being temporarily supported by saidlplatform-supportingf means.

2. In rising stairs, the combination, of two separate platforms, each ofsaid platforms having upwardly-leading cables, counterweights on saidcables, the preponderance in weight of said coacting counterweightsbeing suflicient only to elevate said platforms when not loaded, guidesfor said platforms, there being in said guides apertures atpredetermined intervals, the distance between said apertures in eachcoacting pair of guides being twice the height of the regular steps of astairs, arms pivoted below said platforms and projecting in oppositedirections therefrom, said arms being adapted to engage said aperturesin said guides, a lever pivoted underneath one of said platforms, onemember of said lever protruding from the upper surface of said platform,links connecting said lever with y said arms, and means on one of saidplatforms adapted to lock and to unlock said platform in lowermostposition, said platforms being movably connected to each other, thelimit of movement of said platforms past each other being the distanceonly of the usual steps in a stairs.

3. In a rising stairs, a well, two separate platforms in said well,oppositely located guides for each platform in said well, there being insaid guides apertures in spaced relation, two pairs of slides on eachplatform, said slides comprising spaced plates, there being between onepair of `said plates 0n each platform an inclined pivoted arm and apivoted lever, one member of said lever being in linked connection withsaid arm, there being between the opposite pair of plates an oppositelyinclined arm, said latter arm being in operative connection with saidlever, upwardly-leading cables on each platform, a counterweight on eachcable the preponderance in weight in a coacting pair of counter-Weightsbeing sufficient only to lift said platform when not loaded, and meanson said arms adapted to retain them in normal outwardly projectingposition, said platforms being movably connected one to the other, theextent of movement of one platform past the other being the distance ofone regular step in a stairs, said platforms being' adapted to ascendand descend in said well by a person alternately stepping from one tothe other platform in manner specied.

4l. In a rising stairs, two platforms located side by side and movablyconnected to each other, the extent of movement past each other beingthe height of one step only, upwardly-leadingI cables connected to saidplatforms, a counterweight on each of said cables, the preponderance inweight of the coacting counterweights being suiicient only to raise saidplatforms when not loaded, means on said platforms adapted to supportsaid platforms in loaded condition to retain same in temporarily fixedposition, means adapted to lock said platforms in stationary position,and means adapted to unlock said locking means.

5. In a risingstairs, a platform comprising two steps located side byside and movably connected to each other, the extent of movement of saidsteps past each other being the height of one step only,upwardlyleadingcables connected to said platform, a counterweight oneach cable the preponderance in weight of the coacting counter- Intestimony that I' claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereuntoset my hand in the presence of two subscribing Wit- Weiglits beingsuflieient only to raise said platform when not loaded, automaticallyoperating means on said platform adapted to support said platform intemporarily nesses. Xed position when being loaded, and means ALFREDSVVANSON. on said platform adapted to move said plat- Attest:

MICHAEL J. STARK,

A. G. PETERSON.

form supporting means to permit said platform to descend.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, n. c.

